David Heun

When data security vendor Trustwave introduced its newest software, the mission was fairly clear — help merchants keep abreast of Payment Card Industry data security requirements.

As big companies lock horns to bring mobile wallets to the point of sale, smaller companies are focusing on a different opportunity — improving payments in mobile e-commerce.

Count ATM equipment among the fast-changing technologies in today's payments landscape, as ATM vendors and banks contemplate newer devices that can provide a wider range of services.

Western Union said growth in the Middle East and Asia allowed the company to overcome slowdowns in other countries. Prepaid revenue increased 6% in the second quarter over last year.

Security and compliance are still daunting issues for merchants. Phoenix Managed Networks hopes to ease this pain by offering its network security product to "hundreds of thousands" of merchants through a new partnership with Sysnet Global Solutions.

Developing a mobile wallet for consumers is one thing. Getting those consumers interested and educated about how the wallet works and why they should use phones for payments is an entirely different matter.

The several thousand visitors enjoying Hersheypark this summer can pay for everything they do at the amusement and water park with a flick of the wrist.

PayPal Inc. posted another strong financial performance during the second quarter, driven primarily by continued merchant and consumer adoption, the payments unit of parent eBay Inc. announced July 18.

PayPal's decision to buy its mobile-pay tech partner Card.io sheds light on how the smaller company's technology is shaping the world of mobile payments.

Inaccurate data that finds its way into the global banking payment process creates "hidden costs" of hundreds of thousands of dollars for banks, corporations or large retail businesses.

In less than six months, MoBank Group has sparked plenty of interest among United Kingdom online retail merchants as they upgrade their websites for mobile commerce.

If Apple Inc. doesn’t include Near Field Communication technology in its next generation of iPhone this fall, the company sure has a stockpile of NFC patents to use at a later date.

In recently announcing plans to bring his mobile payment card reader and software into the U.S. market from the United Kingdom, mPowa CEO Dan Wagner was fairly certain the launch would make competitors such as Square Inc. and Intuit Inc. take notice.

Commuters on New York’s busy Metro-North Railroad won’t have to wait in line to buy train tickets if a mobile-ticketing test taking place this summer proves to be successful for the conductors who check thousands of tickets a day.

Concerned over what amounts to milliseconds, London Underground operators say Near Field Communication-enabled smartphones don’t complete transactions fast enough for its commuters going through ticket turnstiles.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania commuters now may use American Express Co.’s ExpressPay contactless cards to pay for rides on the Port Authority Transit Corp. Speedline rapid-transit system or to park in terminal garages.

The Olympics has long been a showcase for sponsor Visa Inc., but the card brand has much more at stake than usual at the 2012 London Olympics because of the mobile-payment initiative it plans to undertake during the event later this month.

Banks should consider developing their own mobile wallets before mobile-network operators or other nonbank wallet developers lock down the technology and garner most of the consumer attention, analysts and financial advisors generally agree.

If crooks find it too difficult to penetrate fraud-prevention layers protecting online merchants, corporations or bank accounts, they revert to “old-fashioned” fraud methods aimed at easier targets.

British Airways, the United Kingdom’s largest international airline with 600 global destinations, says it will strengthen its protection of payment card data when customers purchase tickets online.